Help pours in for wife of missing Dalton man

Saturday

Mar 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMMar 29, 2008 at 1:09 PM

Jenny Uhl’s phone has been ringing off the hook the past 24 hours. Many of the callers on the other line are strangers who want to do their part to help find Craig Uhl, Jenny’s husband, who hasn’t been seen or heard from since Sunday.

Greg Kohntopp

Jenny Uhl’s phone has been ringing off the hook the past 24 hours. Many of the callers on the other line are strangers who want to do their part to help find Craig Uhl, Jenny’s husband, who hasn’t been seen or heard from since Sunday.
Today, Craig’s family will be joined by several of those strangers in a widespread search of the rugged terrain near where Craig went missing at noon.
“I’ve got a lot of calls,” said Jenny, a Dalton resident. “I probably got 100 calls (Friday). There is going to be a lot of people there. Family and friends from West Virginia are going to be in. I don’t even know who I’ve been on the phone with all day, but we’re receiving donations from a lot of local businesses.”
A man who didn’t want to be identified called and told Jenny Uhl that he would search nearby Killbuck Creek in his canoe. The man also said he would bring his Gator four-wheeler. An amateur search and rescue team from Sherrodsville will also join the search. Then there is Massillon-area resident Heather Miller, who told Jenny that she will fly her helicopter over the area and be the group’s eyes from above.
Jenny, who is a North Lawrence native and a Tuslaw High School graduate, also pleaded for people to bring their dogs.
“Several people have called and said they wanted to bring their dogs,” Jenny said. “I said, ‘bring them.’ We’ve had an overwhelming response. A lot of people from Stark County.”
The search will begin at noon today at Route 305 outside Millersburg. The family has put up signs around Millersburg directing volunteers to the search site.
Craig, 47, was last seen at a party with longtime friends from high school. Reportedly, most of the partygoers went to sleep around 4 a.m. Craig was last seen in the home between 5-5:30 a.m. when somebody woke up to use the bathroom. When most of the partygoers woke up around 8 a.m., there was no sign of Craig.
The Holmes County Sheriff’s Department said earlier in the week that there are no indications of foul play. When contacted Friday, a dispatcher said that there is “no new news” on the case.
According to Craig’s mother, Virgie Uhl, the home where the party was located was owned by Craig’s cousin, Jim Uhl. Virgie said that Craig’s birthday was Thursday and the group may have been celebrating that.
Virgie believes that most of the partygoers were friends with her son, but she isn’t sure if Craig knew everybody at the party.
Virgie said the only thing she has been told by officials at the sheriff’s department was that they were still questioning people at the party.
The family is at a loss for what happened. However, they don’t believe that Craig would’ve left the home on foot considering his mobility was limited because he has metal rods in an ankle and in his back.
“There are a lot of ravines out there,” Virgie said. “I know there are a lot of ponds. The area he disappeared from, he wouldn’t have been able to walk that far.”
Craig’s disappearance has marked a long month for the family. Craig’s grandmother, Blanche Channell, passed away on March 12 – the same day Craig’s son, Aaron, celebrated his 17th birthday.
Virgie is holding out hope that her son is still alive.
“We like to think that,” she said. “But right now it’s getting pretty slim.”